Door structure



Dec. 26, 1961 D. D. VAN ZANTE DOOR STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22, 1959 III/II/ lNVENTO/P:

ATTORNEYS.

@t'cfl By W 9 Dec. 26, 1961 Filed Jun 22, 1959 D. D. VAN ZANTE DOOR STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

United States atent Ofitice 3,014,250 DOOR STRUCTURE Dick D. Van Zante, Pella, Iowa, assignor to Rolscreen Company, Pella, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed June 22, 1959, Ser. No. 822,028 2 Claims. (Cl. 2019) This invention relates to a door structure and particularly one having a relatively narrow frame that does not appreciably interfere with vision.

One object of the invention is to provide the framework for the door partially of metal, such as steel for strength yet small cross section, and partially of wood so that the metal does not extend from exterior to interior of the door, thus eliminating the disadvantage of heat transmission through all-metal frames which do extend from exterior to interior, and which therefore are not too satisfactory in cold climates.

Another object is to provide a metal reinforcing framework for a door which is covered on the inside with wood for insulating value and to break the heat transmission path, thus avoiding sweating under certain temperature and humidity conditions, the steel reinforcement providing strength, rigidity and stability in a combination steel and wood construction which is almost as narrow as that customary on all-metal door framework.

Still another object is to provide a combined wood and steel section for both strength and to satisfy some customer preference for wood that is more harmonious with conventional residential interiors.

A further object is to provide a combined wood and steel construction that provides an exterior glazing stop only /s" thick, thus permitting the use of 1" thick insulating glass such as Thermopane or Twindow in a sash just 1 /4" thick. This makes possible an over-all door frame width of 5%" which fits nicely into the usual residential walls.

Still a further object is to provide a metal frame with a. wood surround, the metal being exteriorly exposed but the interior being covered with wood so as to break the heat transmission path, the door being adaptable for mounting with one of a pair thereof stationary and the other slidable in the door frame.

An additional object is to provide a construction of the character contemplated which is readily adaptable for sealing against weather infiltration by means of weatherstrips that permit sliding of the movable section of the door.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my door structure, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a door 1 structure embodying my invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of upper and lower corners of the steel framework of the door sections;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1, FIG. 1 being taken on the line 1-1 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing a modified construction.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference character D to indicate in general a door which is stationarily mounted and D a door which is movably mounted. A sill is shown at in FIG. 1 and a threshold at 12, the head jamb of the door frame being shown at 14 and the side jambs thereof (see FIG. 4) at 1'6 and 18.

The door D comprises a bottom rail 20, a top rail 22, a pair of stiles 24, and a metal frame 26. The frame- Patented Dec. 26, 1961 work of the door consisting of the elements 20, 2'2, 24' and 26 is glazed with a double-pane unit 28 such as a Thermopane or Twindow unit, the glazing compound, such as putty or plastic seal strips, being shown at 30. The door D also has wood steps 32 allaround its four sides and thus isolating the steel frame 26 from the interior of the room. The stops 3-2 are located in rabbets 31 of the rails 20, 20a, 22 and 22a, and of the stiles 24 and 24a.

The door D is similar to the door D and has thesame elements 20a, 22a, 24a, 26a, 28a and 3 2a corresponding to the door D as already described. At 34 and 34a filler strips are shown around the periphery of the units 28 and 28a which may be of wood, rubber, or other resilient materail, and need not be continuous but may be short lengths adequate to support the glass.

The door D" is adapted to be mounted stationarily in the door frame 10-12-'1'416-18, the bottom rail 20 resting on the sill 12 and the top rail 22 confined between a parting stop 36- and an inside stop 40 of metal. The door D is adapted for sliding horizontally by means of rollers 54in the bottom rail 20 traveling on a rod-like track 56 of the sill 10, and the top rail 22a sliding between the parting stop 36 and an outside stop 38 of metal.

When the door D is closed as in FIG. 4, a groove 44 of one of the stiles 24a coacts with a bead 42 of the side jamb 18. Adjacent the head 42 is a Weatherstrip supporting strip 46 having a metal Weatherstrip 48 mounted thereon. Similarly, weatherstrips 5G and 52 (see FIG. 1) are provided for the top and bottom rails 2 2a and 20a respectively of the door D Referring again to FIG. 4, a metal check rail 58 is provided on the stationary door D and a cooperating metal check rail 60 on the slidable door D A resilient sealing strip of neoprene or the like 62 cooperates With the check rail 58 in the closed position of the door.

The metal frames 26 and 26a of the doors D and D are preferably formed of T-section steel such as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4 having their corners mitered and welded together as illustrated at 64in FIGS. 2 and 3. This provides an adequately stable, reinforcing means for the door framework, and an exterior glazing stop that is only about /s" thick thus permitting the use of 1" thick insulating glass in each door section that is only 1%" thick so that the two doors occupy no more room than is necessary for an over-all door frame width of 5 A1".

In FIG. 5 I illustrate how my special door framework construction may be single-glazed instead of doubleglazed if desired. A single pane of glass 28b is illustrated and since its thickness is much less than the double glazing 28 or 28a, a special shaped wood stop 32b is used in place of the stop 28 or 28a shown in the previous figures. The stop 32b is of different dimensions than the stops 28 and 28a to compensate for the diflerence in thickness of the pane 28b compared with the double-glazed pane 28 or 28a.

It will be noted that the metal frames 26 and 26a do not extend from exterior to interior but the interior is covered by the wood stops 3 2, 32a and 32b which break the heat transmission path and avoid the undesirable sweating encountered with all-metal frames that extend from exterior to interior, especially when the temperature goes down to near, or drops below, the freezing point. Thus the undesirable sweating is eliminated and the usual preference for wood as interior finish is had, yet the advantages of a reinforcing steel framework is had for each door section panel.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my door structure without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may reasonably be included within their scope.

- 3 I claim as my invention: 1. In a door structure of the character disclosed, a door panel comprising a rectangular framework of T cross section metal welded together at the corners to form an integral structure with the legs of the Ts projecting toward the inner face of the door panel, a wood surround for said framework having one portion surrounding said legs and another portion surrounding the outwardly projecting arms of said Ts, the inner face of said surround being rabbeted adjacent the inner edges of said T legs, wood stops in said rabbets and overlapping said inner edges of said T legs whereby said stops are elfective to prevent exposure of said framework interiorly, said stops extending beyond said inner edges of said T legs, said door being glazed between the inner faces of the inwardly projecting arms of said Ts and the portions of said stops extending beyond said edges of said T legs, and means for mounting said door panel in a wood door frame devoid of metal that extends from exterior to interior with respect to a wall in which said door frame is mounted 2. In a door structure of the character disclosed, a door panel comprising a rectangular framework of T cross section metal welded together at the corners to form an integral structure with the legs of the Ts projecting toward the inner face of the door panel, a wood surround for said framework having one portion surrounding said legs and another portion surrounding the outwardly projecting arms of said Ts, the inner face of said surround being rabbeted adjacent the inner edges of said T legs, wood stops in said rabbets and overlapping said inner edges of said T legs whereby said stops are effective to prevent exposure of said framework interiorly, said stops extending beyond said inner edges of said T legs, said door being glazed between the inner faces of the inwardly projecting arms of said Ts and the portions of said stops extending beyond said edges of said T legs, and means for mounting a pair of said door panels in a wood door frame devoid of metal that extends from exterior to interior with respect to a wall in which said door frame is mounted with one of said door panels stationary and the other slidably movable horizontally relative to said door frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,710,108 Orrock Apr. 23, 1929 1,867,074 Hill July 12, 1932 2,858,408 Barroero Oct. 28, 1958 

